Stephen Wordsworth

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Wednesday 05 August, 2009

Today we are hosting an entry written by Bill Longhurst, Deputy Head of Mission.

For the past few years there have been regular visits to Serbia by some Welsh Scout troops for camping with their Serbian counterparts. The latest visit started last Friday when scouts from two troops (Caerphilly and West Wales) took a 19 hour journey from Wales via Sofia (better served by low-cost airlines than Belgrade…) to the most easterly region of Serbia on the Danube.

Having met many of the same friends before when they camped with local scout troops near Sremska Mitrovica last year, this seemed the perfect opportunity to put into action a vague plan I have had since arriving here two years ago to visit this less-explored part of Serbia. So after packing my family into our car on Saturday morning, we set off along the Danube for the three hour drive from Belgrade to Kladovo, passing Golubac castle mid-route.

Archeology students could spend many happy hours digging in this region. Remains of stone-age, Roman, Hungarian and Turkish settlements and fortifications can be found here. We were particularly impressed, unexpectedly, by the remains of the Roman fort, “Diana”. The site has no real entrance and can be found off a rough track off the main road just east of the main Djerdap hydro-electric dam outside Kladovo with no obvious signpost. This fact, and the few grainy photos of the ruins I’d seen in some tourist literature, had led me to expect a few shapeless stones overgrown with weeds. But the reality is an impressive array of walls, arches, tiled areas, and even raised floors revealing the underfloor heating ducts, all against the spectacular backdrop of the Danube and the imposing dam. Equally as important historically are the remaining pillars of a now ruined Roman bridge built by the emperor Trajan across the Danube further east from Kladovo, which is said to have been the longest bridge in the world for more than a thousand years.

South from Kladovo the road follows the Danube as it winds its way along, forming the border between Serbia and Romania and, further down, with Bulgaria. Just 20km from Kladovo is the small town of Brza Palanka where the scouts were making camp right on the riverbank with their counterparts from Nis. The ties between Welsh and Serbian scouts have been growing steadily over the past few years and have inspired contacts in other fields such as that between fire brigades in Wales and Sremska Mitrovica.

It is not hard to see why the Welsh scouts return regularly to Serbia: great camping weather, strong friendships between the troops and a host of outdoor activities on offer. For this trip they had planned hikes, camping by caves, by monasteries and cruising through the Iron Gates gorge on the Danube as well as water sports by the camp. I was told that the water quality of the Danube between the two Djerdap dams is in fact very good and is perfect for swimming with none of the strong currents you would normally expect in a river that size. The Nis scout leader presented me with a ceremonial Roman coin from the region – a reminder that no fewer than three Roman emperors were born in modern-day Nis.

My only regret is that I had just a weekend there rather than the much longer time needed to visit other local towns like Negotin or sample some of the local wine in the vineyards of the region. But I will be back there at some point, and it is very likely the Welsh scouts will be back in Fruska Gora in 2011 to help the Serbian Scout movement celebrate its centenary.